Thursday, November 30, 2006

Richy took Toby to the doctor again today.... that poor baby. If anybody even has a runny nose around him, he gets sick. Sigh.

Laying in bed, listening to Rush Limbaugh... echoes of my childhood. Only this time, I have to lay down. Or lie down.

Here's my typical day... awake around 8:30 ish... listen to Toby whining while Richy makes his bottle
Eventually I go downstairs and eat something... oatmeal, maybe. Then I lay on the couch.
After a while I go back upstairs and lay in my bed and surf the web... when Toby takes a nap sometimes I sleep, too.
I don't read any books because I have read all the books here and I am waiting for new books at the library. Once or twice a week I watch a movie.
Back downstairs for lunch (I may be grounded to upstairs soon)
and so on. It's not as boring as it sounds. There are 3 couches that I could lay or lie on. And I can lay on my left or right side. Limitless possibilities, there.
And in my room I can look at the bathroom, the ceiling or the window. So, it's not that boring, see?

Wednesday, November 29, 2006

So yesterday the contractions... oy. Quite a few. We decided to go ahead and start the Terbutaline.
So I have all the side effects from that... heart racing, short of breath... just kinda blurry in general... BUT the contractions have slowed to like one every 3 hours! YAY!
Thanks so much to all of you for praying. Please keep us in your prayers as we are not out of the woods yet.

Also: R2 and Toby are sick. Kind of a miserable bunch around here this morning.

I have my shot at 10. Peace out.

Tuesday, November 28, 2006

Very, very soon here I will be having some blueberry muffins and bacon... one of Richy's specialties.... mmmmm

Yesterday was a pretty good day... I had contractions, but it seems like maybe fewer. I think I was being stricter about laying down though, too.
And I have been sleeping like a Chevy, man... this morning, the phone rang and woke up me and Toby. And you, phone caller, whoever you are...

and now, to dine. Good day.

Monday, November 27, 2006

Well, Richy's off to his second interview/meeting... I took a picture of him but the elusive camera cable...

Toby's 11 months tomorrow... wow.
I am still having contractions, laying down... if they aren't affecting anything, then I don't care. I just have to find out if they are affecting anything.

Ah, blank head. Sorry for the boring-ness.





















*Update*
He got the job! Hallelujah...

Friday, November 24, 2006

Over the years, I have gotten used to the little tang of holidays.... the bittersweetness of understanding everything is not as it should be. As a new young adult, years ago, it would hurt me that the day didn't just feel perfect... like when I was a child.
But you know, there is pain in beauty. It would be weak without pain.
So the rich sweetness of growing together and apart, of knowing it will never be just right this side of heaven... I am beginning to understand.
A three-stranded cord is not easily broken... and the legacy of Christ and His heritage is so interwoven in our story... the strength of love, and family, forgiveness, grace, and healing. I am blessed today.

Thursday, November 23, 2006

On August 1, 1620, the Mayflower set sail. It carried a total of 102 passengers, including forty Pilgrims led by William Bradford. On the journey, Bradford set up an agreement, a contract, that established just and equal laws for all members of the new community, irrespective of their religious beliefs. Where did the revolutionary ideas expressed in the Mayflower Compact come from? From the Bible. The Pilgrims were a people completely steeped in the lessons of the Old and New Testaments. They looked to the ancient Israelites for their example. And, because of the biblical precedents set forth in Scripture, they never doubted that their experiment would work.

"But this was no pleasure cruise, friends. The journey to the New World was a long and arduous one. And when the Pilgrims landed in New England in November, they found, according to Bradford's detailed journal, a cold, barren, desolate wilderness," destined to become the home of the Kennedy family. "There were no friends to greet them, he wrote. There were no houses to shelter them. There were no inns where they could refresh themselves. And the sacrifice they had made for freedom was just beginning. During the first winter, half the Pilgrims – including Bradford's own wife – died of either starvation, sickness or exposure.

"When spring finally came, Indians taught the settlers how to plant corn, fish for cod and skin beavers for coats." Yes, it was Indians that taught the white man how to skin beasts. "Life improved for the Pilgrims, but they did not yet prosper! This is important to understand because this is where modern American history lessons often end. "Thanksgiving is actually explained in some textbooks as a holiday for which the Pilgrims gave thanks to the Indians for saving their lives, rather than as a devout expression of gratitude grounded in the tradition of both the Old and New Testaments. Here is the part [of Thanksgiving] that has been omitted: The original contract the Pilgrims had entered into with their merchant-sponsors in London called for everything they produced to go into a common store, and each member of the community was entitled to one common share.

"All of the land they cleared and the houses they built belong to the community as well. They were going to distribute it equally. All of the land they cleared and the houses they built belonged to the community as well. Nobody owned anything. They just had a share in it. It was a commune, folks. It was the forerunner to the communes we saw in the '60s and '70s out in California – and it was complete with organic vegetables, by the way. Bradford, who had become the new governor of the colony, recognized that this form of collectivism was as costly and destructive to the Pilgrims as that first harsh winter, which had taken so many lives. He decided to take bold action. Bradford assigned a plot of land to each family to work and manage, thus turning loose the power of the marketplace.

"That's right. Long before Karl Marx was even born, the Pilgrims had discovered and experimented with what could only be described as socialism. And what happened? It didn't work! Surprise, surprise, huh? What Bradford and his community found was that the most creative and industrious people had no incentive to work any harder than anyone else, unless they could utilize the power of personal motivation! But while most of the rest of the world has been experimenting with socialism for well over a hundred years – trying to refine it, perfect it, and re-invent it – the Pilgrims decided early on to scrap it permanently. What Bradford wrote about this social experiment should be in every schoolchild's history lesson. If it were, we might prevent much needless suffering in the future.

"'The experience that we had in this common course and condition, tried sundry years...that by taking away property, and bringing community into a common wealth, would make them happy and flourishing – as if they were wiser than God,' Bradford wrote. 'For this community [so far as it was] was found to breed much confusion and discontent, and retard much employment that would have been to their benefit and comfort. For young men that were most able and fit for labor and service did repine that they should spend their time and strength to work for other men's wives and children without any recompense...that was thought injustice.' Why should you work for other people when you can't work for yourself? What's the point?

"Do you hear what he was saying, ladies and gentlemen? The Pilgrims found that people could not be expected to do their best work without incentive. So what did Bradford's community try next? They unharnessed the power of good old free enterprise by invoking the undergirding capitalistic principle of private property. Every family was assigned its own plot of land to work and permitted to market its own crops and products. And what was the result? 'This had very good success,' wrote Bradford, 'for it made all hands industrious, so as much more corn was planted than otherwise would have been.' Bradford doesn't sound like much of a..." I wrote "Clintonite" then. He doesn't sound much like a liberal Democrat, "does he? Is it possible that supply-side economics could have existed before the 1980s? Yes.

"Read the story of Joseph and Pharaoh in Genesis 41. Following Joseph's suggestion (Gen 41:34), Pharaoh reduced the tax on Egyptians to 20% during the 'seven years of plenty' and the 'Earth brought forth in heaps.' (Gen. 41:47) In no time, the Pilgrims found they had more food than they could eat themselves.... So they set up trading posts and exchanged goods with the Indians. The profits allowed them to pay off their debts to the merchants in London. And the success and prosperity of the Plymouth settlement attracted more Europeans and began what came to be known as the 'Great Puritan Migration.'" Now, other than on this program every year, have you heard this story before? Is this lesson being taught to your kids today -- and if it isn't, why not?

Can you think of a more important lesson one could derive from the pilgrim experience? So in essence there was, thanks to the Indians, because they taught us how to skin beavers and how to plant corn when we arrived, but the real Thanksgiving was thanking the Lord for guidance and plenty -- and once they reformed their system and got rid of the communal bottle and started what was essentially free market capitalism, they produced more than they could possibly consume, and they invited the Indians to dinner, and voila, we got Thanksgiving, and that's what it was: inviting the Indians to dinner and giving thanks for all the plenty is the true story of Thanksgiving. The last two-thirds of this story simply are not told.

Now, I was just talking about the plenty of this country and how I'm awed by it. You can go to places where there are famines, and we usually get the story, "Well, look it, there are deserts, well, look it, Africa, I mean there's no water and nothing but sand and so forth." It's not the answer, folks. Those people don't have a prayer because they have no incentive. They live under tyrannical dictatorships and governments. The problem with the world is not too few resources. The problem with the world is an insufficient distribution of capitalism.

Wednesday, November 22, 2006

It was a muggy day in July or August 1997 or 1998. We packed up little Mercedes and Madison, me, Steph, and Eva and headed for the murky shores of Galveston. It was a sandy day of fun in the partially overcast sun.
Late in the day, Stephanie and I decided to swim way out. So we did... further and further, past where our feet could touch. We were treading water and laughing and talking, carefree in the way of 19 year olds at the beach.... then suddenly Stephanie cried out "Ouch! What was that!" I was unconcerned until something brushed past my arm and ZAP... the sting. Panicked, we tried to swim away, only to find our gelatinous companions surrounding us on every side. Sting! Sting! Sting! Our arms and the back of our legs were the prey... We were screaming and waving our arms as we tried to swim out... Eva was on the shore, cheerily waving back and taking pictures. I said to Steph, "Here's a picture of Jess and Stephanie, right before they died..."

Well, you may not have guessed, but we made it to shore. Barely. And since that day, Stephanie and I are waders only. We shall leave the swimming to you, the naive.

Tuesday, November 21, 2006

It's just dormant, see? But now I need the troops to rally - as once again, I am on bedrest and will use your comments as a source of entertainment.
So, if people ask you how I am doing... the condition of my uterus, cervix, etc... direct them here. Or if they are just nosy and like to be privy to the details of a person's life, right here on the internet... again, here.
And let the wit begin.

I wrote "let the pith begin" as in pithy, pithiness... but on further research, discovered that pith is part of a plant, or some sort of severing cattle parts. Not what I meant. So, I edited.

Please pray for me, continue.. my doctor is unavailable this week and the other doctors won't do anything as Question Mark is not "viable". So all I got is Jesus. (which is pretty good, no?)

Richy, testing Toby's strength














Is he cute...I ask you...

Monday, November 20, 2006

Well, the birthday party was a great success... they ate, they played football, they fell down the stairs (small people), they ate some more, and played Risk into the night... well into the night. It was great to have our house filled up with people.

I am still steadily having contractions... Dr Reed is out all week for Thanksgiving, so I am requesting a prescription for the hell-drug terbutaline without having to come in... we shall see if the other docs permit that.

Perhaps you wonder about my emotional state. I am either fine or in denial. I don't like having contractions. I wish they would stop. But I don't feel terribly worried about them right now. Still, please pray for them to stop.
I am doing a self-imposed (spouse-imposed) modified bedrest now... laying down most of the time and not picking up Toby, etc. Things, unless I am healed, will probably get stricter in the upcoming weeks.

The Yablonskis are coming for Thanksgiving... I will have to lay real still all Wednesday so I can laugh my head off on Thursday.

Friday, November 17, 2006

Well, I am ending my fast early as I miscalculated and was planning on ending this morning. Richy continues to fast. I've had a good day or two, very few contractions... I just need to be at peace no matter what my body is doing, you know?

Richy's interview went well... no word yet. Hopefully we'll hear something today.
17 weeks today! 20 weeks to go to be "full-term"! Not bad, eh?

Toby went to the doctor again yesterday. But not his doctor... just the one who was available. Very strange, I am older than a lot of doctors. Very very strange. So anyway, we got the new doctor. She said she just started practicing in February. Should they tell you this? Also she mentioned that she doesn't really know what works yet, so she just does what they did where she trained. Which is fine. But does not inspire confidence.
I like old male doctors who know a lot from experience. But still listen to what I read online and at least act like maybe I know something. Anyway, we got albuterol and steroids for breathing treatments every 4 hours. He LOVES the nebulizer. I have to take a picture of him smiling and chewing on the mouthpiece. He is already much better.

** I forgot to announce! Richy and Robert's birthday party! My house! 1:30 Sunday... I am making chili! All invited!

Wednesday, November 15, 2006

Well, folkies, it's come to that stage of pregnancy where either a)I ignore it and end up in the hospital or b) we fast and pray.
I choose b.
Richy and I will be fasting and praying for this baby for 3 days. I, being pregnant, will fast the internet.

I have been having a lot of contractions/uterine irritability. Last time, I was hospitalized at 19 weeks... no thankee.
So please, pray with us.

Also: big news: R1 is getting a day job. He has an interview today at 10... pray for favor and $$$ ... ;-)

Tuesday, November 14, 2006

Toby is sick. Sheesh. He's all snorky and grumpy... poor baby.
So here comes the mommy guilt... not about letting him eat a popsicle off the kitchen floor... that was after he was already sick, okay?
*WARNING- breastfeeding talk* No, this is the not-breastfeeding mommy guilt. I weaned Toby a month or so ago... the pregnancy was affecting my supply a lot, and the poor kid was hungry. And I miss nursing him. It was one of my favorite things.... But also, in the month and a half on formula, he has pretty much been sick the whole time, on and off. Thus, mommy guilt.
I made an apple pie last night. It was rockin. I think I shall have some for breakfast.

Monday, November 13, 2006

Well, the wedding was great... pictures over on my picture blog.
Josh- Bill was so happy... when they said man and wife, he started laughing and laughing... they got a standing ovation. It was so joyful.
Currently, the whine-o-meter is reading about 80% from Toby. He doesn't feel good. Neither do I, for that matter. But do you see me standing around in a soggy diaper, crying? HECK NO.

Birthday party for Richy and Rob, or Rob and Richy this Sunday... I cancelled it for yesterday and now it turns out to be a good thing as the Rob Clarks have the plague....

Skipping mommy group today.. I am tired and I miss my husband.

I'm starting to feel "normal" for this stage of pregnancy... including some contracting. I was hoping to not contract at all, and I'm still hoping to not have to do strict bedrest... so pray for my body to chill. Gracias.

Friday, November 10, 2006

** I posted this this morning, and it never showed up. If the other one arrives, disregard it.


Today... the alarm went off at 7:54. This was by no means the FIRST time the alarm went off... but it was the last. Simultaneously Toby started crying in the next room, and R2 pushed open our door.
Thus, Friday began.

Last night was Bill's wedding rehearsal, which went the way of wedding rehearsals. Although, to my knowledge, there were few shenanigans and THAT is different. Then it was off to Margaritas for the dinner. Now, I gotta get gut level with you here... Margaritas has, in the last few years, fallen from one of my favorites to one of my least favorites... I grade based primarily on salsa. And this bright red Pace- looking relative is not on the chart. Cinco has also fallen from grace, watering down a truly great recipe... (plus, just not great customer service...). Now, Rancho Grande... you might have heard me refer to this in my youth as Grand Raunchy... they have gone up to #1 as I discovered the best salsa. I could drink the stuff. Awesome... and secondarily, the lunch specials EVERY day. Masterful.
But I digress.
Margaritas, yesterday, however was great! We had a fajita buffet and the young fry feasted on beans and rice... it was very good. And I sat by Larry of the Reicherts and he concocted little mixtures for me to taste... a lemon salsa, a bean and cheese mixture. Good stuff. Fun was had by all.
And Bill is giddy. From moment to moment he could burst into tears or start skipping.

Thursday, November 9, 2006

Something about having Daddy home is making these children sleep in the mornings... nice. Of course, last night at 11:30 Toby was wired... climbing on us and laughing and rolling around and pinching and biting... very cute stuff. He was so offended when I put him in his bed and closed the door. He screamed.. like, mad screamed for approximately 1.5 minute before he was asleep... ha.

Doctor's appointment yesterday was uneventful... everything looks good. I start getting shots next week. But I will have to drive to her office for that instead of having a home nurse... and then drive home with my aching "lower hip"....
A big ultrasound scheduled for that day that will live in infamy... December 7th... so you will all be able to buy gender-appropriate Christmas presents for little Question Mark Clark.

Toby just shut the door to my bedroom and now he is very mad at whoever locked him in here...

Tonight is Bill's rehearsal and rehearsal dinner. I am so, so, SO happy for my friend... he has found Twu Wuv and this is going to be fun!

Wednesday, November 8, 2006

Welcome to years of liberal lunacy... what an election. Sheesh. At least Texas came out all right.

I have a doctor's appointment today, but not until 3:40... and no ultrasound. So not going to be very interesting. To y'all, anyway. Next week I start getting progesterone shots. Ouch. Owee ouch. But hey, that means I'm 4 months! Yay!

I am so glad to have my spice back... (definition: kinda like a spouse, only spicier) . In other marriage news, Britney Spears has filed for divorce. This is another one of those things... I know God hates divorce... but man, I wish that kid could get some freedom. Maybe it's the ex-youth pastor in me... I feel a lot of compassion for her, despite her Jezebellian tendencies.

Toby slept till 9 am today. Glorious.

Tuesday, November 7, 2006

So last night after dinner... I am happily internetting away... my boys are playing on the floor. As these things go, I don't notice when they leave. I am just chatting, surfing...
After a while Richy starts coming and pointing... since this is almost a momentary ocassion in our house, I ignore him. He comes back, again, and again. Finally I hear Toby behind me and turn around. He is BLUE from head to toe. Not death/not breathing kinda blue... a soft powdery silver blue. I panicked and ran over there... I could not figure out what he had gotten in to! But he was COVERED! I look in the bathroom and there it is... an old makeup kit... needless to say, he finished it off. It was a creme based eyeshadow, and it took some serious scrubbing... I was just laughing and laughing because, come on! What is cuter than a Silver Moonlight faced Toby? A confused one?
Our first mishap of this kind. Cabinet latches, anyone?

Ah, and today. YOU MUST VOTE. This election is critically important. There are voter guides at CTK and the library, if you're the researching type. Or, if you're the pregnant type alone with 2 kids - go ahead and vote straight Republican! Very quick!

Happy happy phone call at 6 am... "Come open the door!" YAY!

Monday, November 6, 2006

• Ted Haggard scandal.... this is so sad. For one thing, when it came out, I dismissed it. Not him. And to hear the talk radio hosts joke about it and see it on the headlines... what a disgrace to Jesus. It weighs on me. I hate Christianity getting known for this kind of hypocrisy, and I hate the destruction sin causes. Could be any one of us, I know. But when it's from a platform like that, it's public.

• Saddam verdict... evidently another 2 months of appeals and then, if the verdict stands, he will be hung within 30 days. This is history happening. Amazing. Is it wrong to want this evil man to die? Because that seems the just way.

• Richy is coming home... they are driving 15 hours today and then I don't know tomorrow... they plan to arrive and set up for Radrev at 4. It's been a long 11 days. And a lot of poopy diapers. I need a vacation.

• Birthday party/lunch for Richy and Rob this weekend. Sunday to be exact. My casa grande.

• Mommy meeting today.. and then the mommies are coming to lunch over here. I am making split pea soup in the crock pot. I hope it works.

• My brain feels like it's turning back on. I guess I have 6 months or so until I have new-baby brain again for a while.

• A crash downstairs. No tears. And yet, I should investigate.

Saturday, November 4, 2006




Friday, November 3, 2006

Well, I made Toby stay awake last night until 10... made him skip his evening nap to my own hurt... and gained 5 extra minutes... 6:23 a.m., folks.

Interesting topic MPC addressed...eating at home. The thing is, when I feel good I love to cook. I make up all kind of things. The problem is, everything moves so fast,,, sometimes there's not time to thaw and cut and bake and so forth... you know? Life just goes screeching by and if you don't grab a burger, you go hungry. Seems that way, anyway.

I thouroughly enjoyed Target yesterday. Christmas has begun.

Ah, and a new baby week... hope I start getting fat soon. Sheesh.


Week Fifteen

•You may begin to feel some fluttering movements as baby kicks, flails, twists and turns (but don't panic if you don't yet). She can also grasp, squint, frown, grimace and maybe suck her thumb!

•Your baby's legs have grown longer than the arms and the body is now longer than the head.

•And you'll be happy to note that he is moving those arms and legs often!

•His skin is very thin -- so thin blood vessel are visible. It's covered by a fine, soft layer of hair called lanugo. Lanugo comes from a Latin word meaning "down." This hair is thought to help insulate your little boy.

•The three tiny bones in his middle ear have begun to harden. The auditory centers in your baby's brain haven't developed yet, so she might not really understand what you say but her hearing capacity is in the process of developing.

•Fingernails and toenails are growing.

•Eyebrows are beginning to grow and even the hair his head is sprouting. It will probably change color and texture after birth.

•All this and your little one is an amazing 3.98 inches (10.1cm) long and may weigh 2.47 ounces (70gm).

Thursday, November 2, 2006


Talked to Richy this morning... they are with the Cause... at the old Heritage USA. Rick Joyner has bought the property and restored a lot of it...
But Richy went for a walk last night and just looked at some of the ruins. Amazing. The hotel is going to cost 5 million to restore. Man. I wonder what it all looked like back then.
Just had to be food for thought, Christian ruins.

Today they drive to Virginia Beach. I wish I had gone for this part. I would have loved to hang with the Cause peeps and the Virginia peeps... my friends. But you know, it's ok. I'm going to Target. So that's pretty fun.

Wednesday, November 1, 2006

Hola, bloggerati!
I MISSED YOU! EVEN THAT HAIRY GUY!
The fast was good... not really the explosive thing I was hoping for, but some steps nonetheless.

I'll think of more to say later... Toby was up at 5 something this morning.
 
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